Centum
by kitty-rocket1
Summary: A collection of unrelated drabbles, some of which are AU. Various characters and pairings.
1. 001-005

edit: 29/05/2017. Added chapter title, formatting.

 **Disclaimer: This being fan-fiction, I do not own X/1999 by CLAMP.**

Warnings: In this chapter: drugs mention, unhealthy relationships, Seishirou. I may or may not write more, and if I do then I'll do the warnings chapter by chapter. I don't _think_ the rating will creep up to an M, but if it does I'll change it.

Inspired by Bradcat's fics.

* * *

 **Centum**

 **001-005**

Yuzuriha and Kazuki smudge the sparkly eye shadow on their eyelids and smear the lip gloss on their lips – a soft pink for Yuzuriha, a pale grey for Kazuki. They go through the kit one by one: blush, mascara, nail polish.

When they are done, they both look into the hand mirror and fall apart giggling. They do not have the soft maturity of Karen-sensei; they do not have the practice of Kanoe-san. They look like the little kids that they are: girly and covered in sticky glitter.

They've had fun playing grown-up, but it's better to live as children.

.

"Do you think I'm sexy?" Sorata asks, and laughs at Arashi's scowling face. Subaru gets up from the table just as Sorata yelps in pain. He's heard this before.

It's okay this time, because Sorata's a good person. Subaru puts his plate into the sink and starts to wash it up. He tries to ignore the two teenagers behind his back who will have the candy romance that he never had.

Sorata knows what he's doing, and won't hurt Arashi. Sorata knows the most beautiful thing in the world is to die protecting the one he loves.

Arashi knows better.

.

Karen passes by the tweaker who spends his time cleaning the blossoms from the pavement. Sometimes he separates them into different piles but no one knows what the differences are; the passersby mostly ignoring him, though some glance back.

A few months ago she'd talked to him while he was busy at work, but she couldn't remember what he had been saying. He had mumbled something sweetly and given her a petal that she'd kept. She thanked him and walked home, wondered if he was lonely. A look into his grassy eyes had told her that he was beautiful, once.

.

Subaru is gorgeous and hurting and uninterested in Kamui. Subaru is safe.

Kamui's a nice boy and understands that Subaru doesn't want him. Harmless, really.

It's nice to relax now and again in each other's arms, but in the end it isn't what either of them wants. That would mean getting better, and that misses the point.

(The others watch on in worry. Neither of them care.)

Subaru and Kamui don't tell each other everything, though. Wishes are personal things, and the other might get in their way if they found out.

They don't last forever. They weren't meant to.

.

Halloween is definitely his favourite holiday. He wishes it was more popular in Japan; he would have loved dressing up and knocking on doors, asking for sweets. Maybe he could dress up as a ghost, or a vampire, or a blood drenched murderer. Would he buy a store-bought costume, or make his own from scratch? Would he have gone on his own, or hand in hand with his mother? If he did go with her, would he have had to share his earnings?

And the most important question of all: Trick or Treat?

He can never decide. Seishirou likes both.


	2. 006-010

Warnings: In this chapter: inconsistent tenses, violent thoughts, Seishirou & Fuuma.

Turns out I lied about not writing more! The song mentioned is "Head over Heels" by Tears for Fears, and I sourced my reference for the cover on my tumblr, kitty-rocket (the post dated as 29/05/17), as FFN hates links. Even its own. Nothing's easy!

* * *

 **Centum**

 **006-010**

In a box that Seishirou gave him after he died lies a 7-inch vinyl. Subaru takes it out and plays it.

It's an English song so Subaru doesn't understand the lyrics – it's to be expected, he missed a lot of school – but at least the song title is written in katakana on the sleeve. The song is giddy and childish and Subaru knows that it's a love song. He wishes that the man on the sleeve would stop staring at him.

Well, at least one of them is happy. When the song ends Subaru goes to the bedroom and cries.

.

Kamui has shoulder length hair, thick eyeliner, and more tattoos and piercings that Subaru can count.

"Um," and he's stammering damnit, he wants to melt into the floor, "er, can you show me the way to this exhibit? My, er, sister wants to meet me there."

Kamui gives him the directions but it's so obvious that the other boy would get lost again that Kamui walks with him there. Subaru is mortified, but it gets even worse when they meet up with Hokuto.

"And here I thought you were hitting on me," Kamui laughs, and Subaru can't believe his luck.

.

Rap-a-tap-tap. Kanoe types briskly on the keyboard and glances at the clock on the wall. She can't wait until work is over and she can meet up with her friends; it's been a whole week since she last saw Karen and Subaru. It's been even longer since they gossiped about boys and how dumb they are.

Her boss is walking over now and Kanoe admires her manicure. If she reached under his tie and squeezed as hard as she can, would he find some other pretty girl to linger too long around? She laughs to herself. Her boss looks confused.

.

If you look at the group of teenagers walking past, you will find:

Yuzuriha, the youngest and wisest of the group;

Sorata, who once accidentally set fire to his girlfriend's school blouse half an hour before her exam;

Arashi, who makes sure everything doesn't get too out of hand – she doesn't want to lose her reputation (or her scholarship);

Kamui, who has made out with all of them and is now trying to get with the green-eyed substitute in Fuuma's class;

And Fuuma, who is endlessly grateful for their forgiveness. Next week or tomorrow, he wants to tell Kamui something.

.

Fuuma regrets going to get ice cream with Seishirou. He is a terrible date, and what's more, he nags.

"I wonder if "Kamui" is still keeping up to date on school. Omnicide is no excuse for a teenager to slack on his studies, you know." The older man takes a drag on his cigarette, pauses theatrically, and blows it directly in Fuuma's face. "After all, if we lose then you still need to find a job. How else will you afford your flamboyant wardrobe?"

Fuuma wonders if he should ask him for some porn. At least they agree on _that_.


	3. 011-015

Warnings: In this chapter: gore & cannibalism, Mama Sakurazuka, ableist words, Seishirou, het.

I may or may not have read Junji Ito's Tomie, and that may or may not be the inspiration for 012.

I'd also like to apologise for the number of Subaru-related drabbles in Centum so far. I'm trying to write about the others too, honest!

* * *

 **Centum**

 **011-015**

Before he went to the bridge, Fuuma told Seishirou not to do anything stupid. He looked down at the corpse before him and thought: at least someone got their happy ending.

When Fuuma cut out the eye from its socket he ended up using a knife. It was difficult to get it out undamaged, but Subaru needed the eye whole to eat it so he took his time. Gruesome work but, as ever, someone had to do it.

Fuuma was getting used to clearing up everyone else's mess. At least he'll get to retire soon, he thought. That'd be nice.

.

 _1985/11/22_

 _Dear diary,_

 _There's a beautiful young woman with long raven hair… they say that she drives men mad!_

 _It's true. Men fall madly in love with Sakurazuka-san, and then they try to cut her into pieces! Although, apparently she has a son! Guess men like a pretty face, regardless of character._

 _I met her today, and she's just as they say. I said, she doesn't look old enough, does she really have a son? She says she did. That he wasn't as ugly as us, that he'd take after her._

 _So strange. Haha, maybe he'll drive men crazy too!_

.

Satsuki looked at the orthogonally-shaped spiders scattered on her table, their pointy metal legs facing upwards, downwards, sideways. A pack of differential amplifiers. Did Yuuto give this to her as a joke? Or did he really think she would use them? He'd even gotten her a book about radios.

As if Satsuki needed to know or have such things. BEAST was smart enough to build itself.

It was almost insulting, actually, to imply that she needed help. She didn't need help. She hadn't ever even _asked_ for help. A slight exhale of irritation, and a distant laugh from Kanoe.

Ridiculous.

.

Seishirou hates this.

Subaru-kun was destined for him, assigned _to_ him. Seishirou knows this.

But still, he worries.

He knows that boy, Kamui, can change the course of destiny. If he so wishes.

Seishirou is starting to think that he might well Wish. If he did, what could Seishirou do to stop him? If Subaru-kun had half a brain he'd run for the hills. Subaru-kun is already starting to befriend, to care, to heal.

And after all that work Seishirou put in. Nearly a decade!

Seishirou, for the first time in a long, long time, feels powerless.

It isn't fair.

.

After the end there was a wedding, because Arashi needed a husband and Subaru needed an heir.

The baby was born a little too early and a little too tanned, but Arashi's husband loved it more than anything. It was the only thing he would smile at now, but the family let it go because he worked so hard. Arashi seemed happy enough too, being a housewife. In her spare time she would make charms for her husband and sweets for her child.

Kamui went to the wedding. He hated it, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut.


	4. 016-020

Warnings: In this chapter: Seishirou, death.

* * *

 **Centum**

 **016-020**

Aoki is married and Kigai is an irrecoverable flirt… and they have no idea where Shiyu is. For the first time since they've known him he's late.

"Maybe he's finally met a girl," Kigai says. "I don't even care if they're a boy –isn't he still a virgin? Sakurazuka–"

"Is disliked by everyone, including Shiyu." Aoki looks uncomfortable and typically stressed. "Besides, I don't want to know about Shiyu's personal life."

Kigai hums and looks around. "Maybe we missed him. Can't imagine how…"

Their friend does eventually turn up. He doesn't explain himself, which means that they guessed right.

.

It was horrible, the worst thing imaginable. Gross, _grotesque_. It made Kamui want to collapse to his knees, breakdown and cry.

Kamui inched closer to the mirror and gazed upon the horror before his eyes. It was, it was…

A spot.

He didn't deserve this. Hadn't he suffered enough? And nobody seemed to understand the severity of the situation! Arashi had completely ignored him, and Sorata had made fun of him. He'd need yet another year of counselling after this.

Kamui opened up the tube in his head and smeared its contents on his face. Yuzuriha truly was a lifesaver.

.

Both Arashi-chan and Kotori-chan have such long hair. Yuzuriha-chan wants to grow hers too, but it'd be difficult to manage when she's looking after the animals. What's the point of having such lovely long hair if she has to bundle it all up afterwards?

Kotori-chan lets her brush and play with her hair though, so it's not all that bad. Yuzuriha-chan wants to brush Arashi-chan's hair too, but she won't let her.

"Why not?"

Arashi-chan didn't answer her properly, but she did blush and mumble something about Sorata-san. Something about playing with her hair? That's all Yuzuriha-chan heard. How cute!

.

I have a confession. It's important that I tell you now.

Confessions are strange things. You can confess to bad things, like cruelty or murder, or good things. Like love. Love is a good thing, isn't it?

Some things are easier to confess to than others. Some get better reactions than others. There are even some that are taken to the grave… but this one won't. This one is a secret between two people. You will keep it secret, won't you? I have a reputation to keep.

Why are you crying? These things happen every day. Isn't that right, Subaru-kun?

.

Kakyou is surprised to find that Nataku dreams. They're pretty abstract dreams, mind –spinning gears and curtains and shallow pools of water– but Nataku dreams, and dreams regularly.

They're so routine and predictable in fact that Kakyou likes to cross into them when he's tired of the vast expanse of the ocean, the vast expanse of loneliness. The water that Nataku dreams of is calm, and warm, and unsalted. They don't talk to each other, and that's okay.

One day the dreams stop. Kakyou misses them but there's nothing he can do about it. It's just another thing to grieve.


	5. 021-025

Warnings: In this chapter: Subaru.

These ones almost have the same reoccurring themes to them. Maybe I'm running out of ideas.

* * *

 **Centum**

 **021-025**

It's difficult to find clothes that fit her. By the time Kanoe had found the right shops, she was already used to undoing the top buttons in her blouse. It got her places that a more modest outfit couldn't, anyway.

"Where does Satsuki-chan buy her clothes?" Kanoe asks over tea one day. "Does she buy them over the internet?"

Satsuki smiles at her knowingly and takes a sip. "Yes. Though most don't fit me well, so BEAST has to be inventive."

It's nice to have a girly chat without Yuuto for once. Maybe he'll regret being late for this one.

.

Maybe he could have gotten better after he met Kamui.

Kamui Shirou, the miracle boy. He had looked so confused when Subaru told him he Wished to lose his eye. Subaru had been worried that he'd understand. Perhaps he had, because after that Kamui never blushed around him again. Kamui had known Subaru was sick, but maybe now he was just starting to realise just how ill he was. Possibly. He hoped.

Subaru sighed. Yes, it was good. After Kamui left, to go to sleep or school, Subaru relaxed onto his bed to rest. His plans were coming along nicely.

.

She won't cry in front of others. If she does, people will think she's weak and they will pity her. That is forbidden.

Arashi combs her hair, removes the loose strands. She takes her role seriously, possibly too much so, but that doesn't mean she can't allow herself the occasional vanity. Her hair is too long to be practical without it being tied up but it's the one weakness she allows herself. It's not as if she wears makeup.

She's smiling to herself and not to her reflection in the mirror. She wonders what it'd be like to be married.

.

"Not everyone can be happy." That's what you said to me. Were you telling me to pursue my Wish selfishly? You did that the first time we met, too.

The Final Day is soon. I'd like to see you again, but if you don't want to be found I won't look for you. You deserve at least that much.

I wonder… are you okay? Are you lonely? Maybe your family knows where you are. I'd like to think that somebody does. I know it's unlikely.

Because anyone can get better but not everyone does.

That's okay. I still have hope.

.

Kotori has always been an optimistic girl. When a classmate told her about a crush on a boy, she would smile and say, "I'm sure your feelings will be returned!" When her friend would worry about her grades she would say, "I'm sure you can do it!"

She wasn't just saying these things to make people feel better. She really believed it.

Her father and her brother worried enough by themselves. She may have had a weak heart, but she was happy with her lot in life. It was always everyone else who made a big fuss out of everything.


	6. 026-030

Warnings: In this chapter: Seishirou & Subaru, very brief misgendering.

O Seishirou, Seishirou! wherefore art thou Seishirou?  
Deny thy mother and refuse thy name;  
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,  
And I'll no longer be a Seal.

* * *

 **Centum**

 **026-030**

Seiichirou Aoki is a handsome chivalrous man and she can't help but laugh at her luck. Karen's worked with so many married men before, but this one is different.

Sometimes she worries that's why she loves him. Does she only want what she can't have? Is she really that selfish? If he came to her one night feeling lonely, would she leap at the chance to make him hers? She prays at night, and she should be praying to win the war. Not over this.

Karen so wishes she was good. She's worked so hard to be virtuous and kind.

.

They more or less live together now and it's almost like they're a normal couple. Subaru still works too much. Seishirou still comes home sometimes with blood on his hands, and he knows that Subaru hates it but he puts up with it and that's all that matters. They don't talk to each other much. Sometimes they eat together. The sex is fine.

Nobody else knows; they don't bother telling their colleagues and Subaru actively hides it from his family. Subaru has his responsibilities; he doesn't want them to know.

He considers himself happy. They're lucky to even have this.

.

Kusanagi-san can see Inuki, right? And only certain people can see him. Kusanagi-san isn't a Dragon of Heaven and he isn't one of their allies, which means…

Yuzuriha takes out another Pocky stick and chews on its end. Yeah, that makes sense. She's a little sad, but she knows that Kusanagi-san is a good person. She trusts him.

She wonders why he's a Dragon of Earth. The last time they met he talked about the pain of the plants and animals, and how he could hear them. Maybe…?

Suddenly she senses a kekkai being raised. Ah well, off to work.

.

This Sakurazukamori is more boring that the one before, Fuuma thinks. He doesn't play any of the power games the previous had, and he has no appreciation of irony. It's a pity.

The widow looks down at the citizens beneath them, the remains of the man he loved sitting in his skull. In a way that man is inside him forevermore. Will the widow change his last name to his late husband's? Fuuma thinks it almost romantic.

Sakurazukamori stands. He says he has work to do. Fuuma watches him leave and then turns to look below. People walk on by.

.

Seishirou Sakurazuka took several minutes to die. If they had found the body in the wreckage of Rainbow Bridge, they might have found that the hole in his chest was just off-centre from his heart. They might have assumed, as you or I might, that the killer had missed his goal… if not the objective.

Perhaps the attacker had lacked the experience, but there is another theory. It goes like this: guided by a professional's hand, the killing blow had simply mirrored another's. That the directed hand did not miss from incompetence, but doubt.

Still. That doesn't make it okay.


	7. 031-035

edit: 07/08/2017. Corrected chapter title.

Warnings: In this chapter: food, alcohol.

I couldn't remember how I normally spell "Tohru" and I wrote 039 without checking the canon timeline, so it doesn't actually, uh, match with it. Whoops?

* * *

 **Centum**

 **031-035**

"Happy Birthday!" the icing on the cake says. Kamui stares at it and wonders how his housemates know. To be fair, all Sorata would have to do is ask Imonoyama-san, but Kamui is still pretty sure his mother told him not to let other people know his birthday.

Of course Sorata would do it anyway: dramatic western-style. Isn't turning sixteen a big deal in America?

(The "party" turned out to be more relaxed than Kamui had feared. Apparently it was more to celebrate coming off his crutches, so said Sorata. Maybe it was just an excuse to feed Kamui sugar.)

.

You search for him and you hate the man that did this to him. That man –"Sakurazukamori"– took both of your grandchildren away. You thought it couldn't get any worse than both a murder and a suicide for your granddaughter, but you were wrong. Again.

Your grandson hides from you but you know that he has blood on his hands. Does he think you don't know? Does he even care anymore, that sweet child who would try so hard to please everyone, anyone that wanted? Where has he gone?

You have always feared "Sakurazukamori", but now you hate him too.

.

"And I told him, that's not the Fourier– oh, hello Nekoi-san."

"Yuzuriha-chan is fine! Please call me that! Kigai-sensei says he wants to meet you in his classroom."

"I– fine. Now?"

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

"It's fine. Arashi-san, do you…?"

"It's okay. I need to speak you, Yuzuriha, anyway. About the project due next month, it's– what's wrong?"

"…Do you want me to come with you?"

"Huh?"

"Satsuki-san, do you want me to come with you to Kigai-sensei's classroom? You see him a lot."

"It's fine. Just extra reading for my university exams. Nothing weird."

"…I'm glad. So, Arashi-chan–"

.

Saya misses the ocean and misses her lover. Tohru Shirou stands there, hundreds of miles away, watching the ocean go in and out. She thinks of Saya, and wonders if when she dies the fire inside herself will die too.

You don't always get the boy –or girl– in the end. Saya knew this and accepted it. Tohru, as she gazes at the blue horizon, wishes she did not. Nothing can change the now, but she still believes that the future is undecided. Her boy will prove it.

Their fates are as sure as the tide, but fire is not.

.

"Sumeragi is _so_ damn hot," and Fuuma dumps his head onto the table. His beer sloshes in his hand and threatens to spill.

"Well, I don't know what to say to that," Seishirou replies. "Yes?"

Fuuma suddenly jerks his head back up again. "I thought you liked him."

"I-"

"So you don't mind if I have a crack at him?" Fuuma's eyes glint. "You wouldn't feel betrayed? Or jealous?"

"Of course not." Seishirou drinks, stalling. "What would I be jealous of?" Fuuma grins at him from across the table and Seishirou can't help but feel bamboozled, somehow. His face twitches.


	8. 036-040

Warnings: In this chapter: food, Rainbow Bridge.

The song Sorata sings in 037 is "Dango 3 Kyodai".

Yeah, I know there are already five million fics about Rainbow Bridge. Sorry?

* * *

 **Centum**

 **036-040**

Who are you going to be today? You wake up, like most of us, and get out of bed. You follow your rituals: you smoke, you eat, you prepare your ofuda, you brush your teeth. You check your schedule.

You pass someone on the street, and look! You light up, your batteries are charged, you spring to life. You do your act, the appropriate role. So does she, and the play is done. You go your separate ways.

You have to do this fewer times these days. Soon you won't have to do it at all. You're almost happy.

Soon.

.

"Dango, dango, dango," sings the monk as he mixes the dough. When it's the right consistency, Sorata splits the dough into several bowls and adds the right supplements to each bowl, a rainbow of sweets. He's decided to keep it simple this time, as he doesn't know exactly what sort his housemates would most like.

And it's not like he isn't making enough spare for anyone else who wants some, anyway!

He's about to skewer the dumplings when he notices Yuzuriha standing by the door, and he grins. "D'ya want some before I'm ready?" She shakes her head and laughs.

.

Kamui and Subaru press their hands together, palm to palm. For once they don't automatically entwine their fingers.

"You, too," Kamui says, referencing his scars to Subaru's marks. He shouldn't be able to see them, but Kamui's power is strong enough to see Sakurazukamori's. The lines on the back of Subaru's hands are thin and white against Subaru's pale skin. Subaru sighs softly.

"You remind me of myself in so many ways," the older man confesses.

"I know."

Subaru sighs again, and now the fingers do interlink. Their wrists twist and their hands fall down to the side, still together.

.

…Strange.

Thursday night was karaoke night and nearly every one of her co-workers were crammed into the small private booth. Kanoe and Karen were having a ball blasting "Hot Stuff" out at the top of their lungs, slightly slurring the lyrics into the microphone, and Seiichirou and Yuuto clapped along cheerfully to the beat. Even Kakyou had a smile on his lips as he draped half-unconsciously over Kusanagi.

Satsuki leaned back into the seat. Her co-workers were fine company and everyone seemed to get along well enough, but she couldn't help but notice that something was missing. She wondered what.

.

The air is nothing but hot and dense and sticky fatigue. Subaru cannot feel it, and he stares blindly forward, weighed down by the weight of everything that mattered.

 _"It's because you are kind, that I_ _–_ _"_

This is the moment where everything ends. As cheesy as it sounds, reality is somehow worse than he ever imagined. It's not even the first time this has happened. Isn't that funny?

There's a wind picking up; it is surprisingly cool. Subaru breathes in and out, all energy sapped from his muscles. So heavy.

 _"The bridge is collapsing!"_

The air smells of rain.


	9. 041-045

Warnings: In this chapter: implied sex, gore.

* * *

 **Centum**

 **041-045**

Kanoe leaned down and kissed the bespectacled woman watching her, and "oh," was all the shorter woman said, bored, after Kanoe had finished. It made Kanoe laugh and she asked her if she was really that bad a kisser, and that she was a little insulted about it, actually, and that she promised that everyone else loved her kissing.

"I'm very good with my mouth," she had purred. "Don't you want me to show you?"

Satsuki's face didn't change or speak, but after a pause she held out her arm for Kanoe to grasp. A "show me".

So Kanoe did.

.

Two blond men, one with short hair and the other with longer, sit on a rock at the edge of a sea shore. The one with the shorter hair leans back on his hands and hums to himself absently, the other droops quietly beside him.

"I don't really understand," Yuuto says, "why you're quite so sad. Is the future really that helpless?" His companion doesn't respond, so he continues, "mind you, I don't think I'd want to know anyway. I guess I like to see it unravel naturally, haha!"

He looks over at Kakyou. "So glum!" He exclaims, not unkindly.

.

The worst part is this: the overwhelming sense of time running out.

There's an unbearable tremor under his skin, that nervous energy that drags the space between wakefulness and sleep ever further apart. Restless. Kusanagi paces the room he sleeps in, unable to rest from the agonising countdown towards the end of the world.

Static in his bones, muscles taught. He should be looking forward to it, and there was a time where he _was_ : eagerly anticipating the Earth's revolution, finally answering the agonised screaming in his head, but now he's older he understands that revolutions are violent. Inevitably so.

.

She shows them: "Ah… like this." Slowly, the white haired child lifts a finger and dabs it into the paint. Slowly still, the child puts it onto the canvas and drags the finger around. A person appears before them, and Karen realises the painting is her.

"Who is that?" She asks, resisting the urge to go, "Is that me?" instead.

"No one," and the red paint that was her hair turns a smudged crimson as the child scribbles over the top half of the figure. She's more hurt by this than she should be, but just passively nods beside Nataku.

.

"You'll need to cut off her hand to save her," Fuu– no, _"Kamui"_ says. It's a strange situation, to stand next to his twin star so immediately after a fight, but Kamui is so exhausted and numb that _"Kamui"_ knows there's no risk of another one. Kamui is busy looking at an unconscious woman, still alive, lying trapped under the rubble with the debris crushing her left hand.

"She'll survive if you do," the taller boy advances towards him, "But you won't, will you?"

"I can't," comes the reply. _"Kamui"_ reaches towards his arm to aid Kamui, knowing it's useless.


	10. 046-050

Warnings: In this chapter: disordered eating / eating disorders, mild swearing.

The song in 046 is the same song as in 006, and is the only time when two drabbles are directly connected with each other. The date and time for the full moon in 049 is from timeandate. com.

And we're back with fandom's favoured four boys again. This will probably be the last instalment, at least for a while. I'd love some feedback on these drabbles –which was your favourite, what you liked about them, any issues with any of them– so please let me know. In particular, I worry that I'm too heavy-handed with what I'm trying to communicate, and that my writing is stilted. Either way, thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed what I've written so far.

* * *

 **Centum**

 **046-050**

English. It'll be English, Seishirou decides: that's the foreign language he wants to learn. Spoken by so many! So many on the opposite side of the world…

There's plenty of material available for him to use, and he'll be able to communicate with more people. That's the plan. He's quick and disciplined enough to do that on top of all his other responsibilities, all the other things he must learn. He's bright. And he wants to understand the lyrics to that song that resonates in his head, because it makes sense.

Subaru-kun skips too much school to learn English. Pity.

.

A visibly ill man sits in the chair opposite and she softens her face deliberately so, to counter his. "Please, Subaru-san." Her hair is red and bouncing and full, and his is falling out. "Please. You know you must eat."

His jaw clenches but there's no other reaction. She wasn't used to this, she had to read extra books just to familiarise herself and this is rarer in men, so she– ah. Hopefully the later sessions will go better than this.

"Please. It's like fuel for a car. Even if you hate it, you must eat to survive." _Live_.

Shit.

.

 _Feels like a prodigy, feels like a prophecy…_

Slowly, silently, the man above watches the teenagers below him: one tall and protective, one short and pretty. The man smiles to himself, because wouldn't it be funny to end the end before it begins? The two boys below him embrace and look close, almost intimate. He wonders why that dreamseer contracted this, thought she'd be on the other side, but no matter. He's a professional, after all.

The boy, though confusingly he doesn't know which one, reminds him of someone from long ago. He knows who, but he's not sure which.

.

 _1999/12/23_

" _Dear Diary,"_

 _It's a full moon today, the last of the year. Actually, it's already been and gone because it was early in the morning, and it's evening now, but still. A good time for my last "entry", so to speak._

 _Some say that a full moon is unlucky. Others, that it causes madness._

 _Kamui still hasn't realised his wish. It's frustrating, but expected._

 _That girl, the very first one I killed, used to have a diary. No one will ever read it._

 _Maybe if Kamui did, he'd understand his Wish. He might have even known mine. Who knows?_

.

"He cute?"

"Mm."

The shorter teen –though not by much– looks at the picture more closely, examining the shirtless model. "He's got a good body, but I dunno about his face."

"Kamui!"

"What? It's wonky, look."

"…You're harsh, Kamui."

Kamui huffs and shoves the magazine towards Subaru. "Go on, then! What d'ya like about him?"

"I'm not, I just, I–" Kamui raises his eyebrow at him, and he concedes, "Well, it's not that I'm _not_ , you know, I just. I don't think it's fair to judge someone like that. I think?"

Kamui pokes Subaru's nose. "So kind," he grins.


End file.
